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The PR Voyeur

Commentary and introspection about trends and controversy in the online social media and public relations field. A side-project of Danielle's. You can find her other work at blogto.com or househippo.org

October 23, 2012 with 1,966 notes
        tags: feminist. abortion rights. rona ambrose. anti abortionists. pro choice. pro life. canada. toronto. controversy.
stephherold: Awesome new campaign from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service.  Would we ever see an ad like this in North America? Despite our prized abortion rights in Canada, this year has seen a scary shift where our MP’s are nominating anti-abortion activists with Queen’s Jubilee medals (including one who is in JAIL for their aggressive actions against clinics & clinicians) and that our Status of Woman minister Rona Ambrose supported an act to revisit where life begins.  Nevermind that fact that in Toronto, there are countless pro-life billboards on the TTC, near Yonge/Dundas Square and other high-density areas, but I can’t recall every seeing something to support choice.

stephherold:

Awesome new campaign from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service. 

Would we ever see an ad like this in North America?

Despite our prized abortion rights in Canada, this year has seen a scary shift where our MP’s are nominating anti-abortion activists with Queen’s Jubilee medals (including one who is in JAIL for their aggressive actions against clinics & clinicians) and that our Status of Woman minister Rona Ambrose supported an act to revisit where life begins. 

Nevermind that fact that in Toronto, there are countless pro-life billboards on the TTC, near Yonge/Dundas Square and other high-density areas, but I can’t recall every seeing something to support choice.

(via greeninkstains)

July 30, 2012 with 1 note
        tags: feminism. london 2012. olympics. equality. gender.

London 2012: Steps toward gender equality, steps backward at Olympics | London 2012 | Sports | National Post

darlingmagpie:

Qatar, represent!

Interesting article about the baby steps for equality in Olympics compared to actual nations. So WHAT if we have one women per team, does that actually mean anything at all? I wish it was more indepth, but for the NatPo it’s something.

July 3, 2012 with 4,277 notes
        tags: psa. youtube. advocacy. domestic assault. domestic violence. makeup. PR.

I’ve seen a few of these PSA’s lately, primarily from British video-bloggers either used as spokespersons for a cause or acting on their own accord to send a message forward to their viewers. Another one that came to mind was of a woman applying makeup and then thrust violently forward- a video calling out the danger of distracted driving.

Influential YouTubers have a captive fanbase that are likely more engaged than the average consumer/television audience and these types of messages and videos go straight to the intended target.

But what does it mean? Awareness campaigns are extremely tricky to measure, especially with regards to violence. You can track certain habit-based campaigns like smoking reduction or tanning booth control, but what about campaigns that come across to create awareness that people might be victims? Does it offer a solution for the viewer? I’m not certain what my take on these videos are. Should our focus be on watching for tell-tale symptoms on friends and acquaintances or should we be trying to intervene with at-risk men who are likely to assault instead?

Either way, it’s interesting to see how these PSA’s translate to internet audiences.

thedailywhat:

PSA of the Day: YouTube makeup guru Lauren Luke is using her powers for good with a tutorial on how to cover up the physical effects of domestic violence — but her message is not quite what you’d assume.

Join Luke’s campaign to help women break the silence here.

(Source: thedailywhat)

July 3, 2012 with 24 notes
        tags: 99 problems but a pitch aint one. pr. pitches. media release. media. holidays.

When a client thinks it’s a good idea to send out a release the week of 4th of July..

I usually agree wholeheartedly with this tumblr, but this one had me thinking.

As a Canadian, this past weekend I had a conversation about how I enjoyed Canadian holidays that weren’t the same as American ones because “the internet doesn’t get boring”, meaning that American news and media sources are so prevalent that before a holiday weekend, people are slow to release stories or content because they believe it will be ignored.

But if there’s anything we know for sure, people are just as connected on holidays as they are during the workweek. Sometimes moreso! Depending on your client or the type of release they want to put forth, wouldn’t it be a good idea to DOMINATE the news cycle by releasing something while everybody else is resting on their laurels?

Just a thought.

99problemsbutapitchaintone:

May 23, 2012 with 69 notes
        tags: conflict free. intel. ethical. pr win.

Intel has an interesting goal in its 2011 Corporate Responsibility Report: They want to make sure that none of their chips have materials from conflict zones.

This is an interesting situation because it’s definitely not a stunt, this is a promise for sustainability and ethics, but I have to admit that conflict-free is an interesting term that still leaves something to be desired.

Let’s hope Intel actually follows through with this goal and sets a precedent for other technology giants in the future. Imagine if mobile providers also did this? Apple, Samsung, you’ve been paged.

shortformblog:

To address the issue of conflict minerals, through the end of 2011, Intel had identified 98 smelter sites and visited 48 of them in 16 countries to lay the groundwork for third-party audits. Intel’s goal is to demonstrate that its microprocessors are validated as conflict-free for tantalum by the end of 2012, and to manufacture the world’s first microprocessor fully validated as conflict-free across all four minerals (gold, tantalum, tin and tungsten) by the end of 2013.

The result of this? Intel, if successful, would produce the world’s first conflict-free processor by the end of 2013. The phrase “conflict-free” generally gets used in terms of diamonds and other rare materials, but by doing this, Intel is shining a light on a problem few think about. Intel also has a number of other goals for itself that it hopes to reach by 2020 — including “zero chemical waste to landfill” and reducing water usage. We wish them luck. (ht Geek.com)

May 3, 2012 with 1,061 notes
        tags: bad pr. pr fail. controversy. daniel chong.
This is something that should never have happened, but the DEA thinks that they can solve this situation by doing exactly what it was got them there in the first place. By ignoring the fact that a young man was probably traumatized for life (imagine FIVE DAYS in room with no food, water, anything while being able to hear others just outside the door) they’ve basically shut down comment on this situation and the media is doing the commentary for them. Something is horribly wrong and they need to address it. With trust in the DEA and government still riding low, something needs to be said. Reminder: He was locked up initially for marijuana use. thedailywhat: Follow-Up of the Day: Student Left In Cell Sues DEA For $20M: It was never a question of when, but how much: Daniel Chong, the UC San Diego student abandoned in a cell by the Drug Enforcement Administration for five days without food, water, or human contact, has filed a lawsuit seeking $20 million in damages.From the letter sent by Chong’s attorney to DEA general counsel: “The deprivation of food and water for four and one-half days while the person is handcuffed the entire time constitutes torture under both international and domestic law.” The letter requests that all federal agencies preserve any evidence related to the case, including video, interview notes, and written reports. [death+taxes]

This is something that should never have happened, but the DEA thinks that they can solve this situation by doing exactly what it was got them there in the first place. By ignoring the fact that a young man was probably traumatized for life (imagine FIVE DAYS in room with no food, water, anything while being able to hear others just outside the door) they’ve basically shut down comment on this situation and the media is doing the commentary for them. Something is horribly wrong and they need to address it. With trust in the DEA and government still riding low, something needs to be said.

Reminder: He was locked up initially for marijuana use.

thedailywhat:

Follow-Up of the Day: Student Left In Cell Sues DEA For $20M: It was never a question of when, but how much: Daniel Chong, the UC San Diego student abandoned in a cell by the Drug Enforcement Administration for five days without food, water, or human contact, has filed a lawsuit seeking $20 million in damages.
From the letter sent by Chong’s attorney to DEA general counsel:

“The deprivation of food and water for four and one-half days while the person is handcuffed the entire time constitutes torture under both international and domestic law.”

The letter requests that all federal agencies preserve any evidence related to the case, including video, interview notes, and written reports.

[death+taxes]

(Source: thedailywhat)

March 28, 2012 with 349 notes
        tags: vancouver riot. pr win. controversey. riots. pr campaign.

Haven’t been here in awhile, hi! 

So, we all remember the riots in Vancouver when the Canucks lost the Stanley Cup Playoffs last year right? This is an ad campaign on behalf of the team to address the situation. 

Is it effective? Do you think this will change anything? Is this an appropriate response?

In my opinion, this seems rather weak all things considered, a much stronger message could have been sent here.

BTW. This never happens in Toronto because we haven’t even gotten to the conference finals in a decade. The most VALUABLE TEAM IN THE NHL.

Celebrate Responsibly posters (This Is Our Home PSA)

(Source: narkusmaslund, via wayoutofbounds)

February 29, 2012 with 2 notes
        tags: school. bad pr. apology. censorship. discrimination. wisconsin. Menominee.

Native girl punished for speaking her language

A disastrous situation has erupted in Wisconsin, with an elementary teacher making an example of a Native American student for teaching some classmates the words for ‘Hello’ and ‘I love you’ in her native tongue of Menominee. Her teacher told her it was inappropriate and engaged further teachers in her tirade, calling the situation disrespectful and that the student was showing ‘attitude’ while speaking the language.

Obviously this became an outroar and the teacher released an apology that read more like a justification of the punishment instead of any sort of apology.

Now this has gone international. 

If a child was speaking Mandarin, French, German, Spanish or even, Polish, would they have been punished by this same teacher due to her insecurity with other languages? Probably.

Does it help that she censored a Native American student? Absolutely not and the fallout is going to be huge.

February 25, 2012 with 57 notes
        tags: youtube. controversy. reply girls. bad pr. prfail. feminism. feminist.

While YouTube’s advertisement system has been the subject of critique before, this “reply girl” situation is becoming a scandal of epic proportions. But just like click-sharks on google ads and SEO exploits on websites, it really does lie to the fault of the person viewing or watching. If you don’t want to support somebody piggy-backing on a video of substance, don’t watch it.
The YouTube community is torn, some people acknowledge that it’s in these people’s fair rights to behave this way while others are shocked at the audacity of the vloggers. I say, why is YouTube so special? They have some of the most anonymous, racist, homophobic commentators, why should YouTube staff start pulling down harmless videos, they’re vapid and cheap, but why does this require extra attention? Is it because it’s boobs? Male spammers, email hijackers and click sharks have used the promise of ‘real girls now!’ or ‘chat with girls’ or pure basic porn spam to take advantage of web users for years, why can’t actual women get a go at taking advantage of desperate clickers on the web?
Don’t hate them for their boobs, hate them for their savvy, they’re embracing the wild wild west of what constitutes fraud on creative content sites. Leave the reply girls alone.

Gaming the system: On the rise of YouTube’s search-friendly “reply girls”

We’ve yet to see this phenomenon analyzed anywhere in the media, so let’s give this a signal boost: The secret to becoming popular on YouTube is to build heat. Sometimes you create something so great it goes viral on its own. Sometimes you know the right people and the right places. Sometimes, though, you’re good with the timing and keywords. That is actually an effective way to get popular on YouTube — this Pomplamoose clip, for example, was a very well-timed attempt to bank its success on a popular song at the height of its notoriety. But what if you take that philosophy to the extreme? The answer is that you end up with TheReplyGirl. Let’s explain how this works:
  • The concept A woman who claims to go by the name Alejandra Gaitan, above, has been on YouTube since August, and her main routine is to reply to popular videos, load her responses with ads, and wear something revealing, with the goal of enticing a click. She’s not alone — a woman who calls herself Megan Lee Heart, for example, posted a well-tagged video after Whitney Houston died and got 100,000 views. And hundreds of dislikes on the clip.
  • The precedent Gaitan, Heart and others are essentially pulling off an elaborate search engine optimization scheme on YouTube. Their videos show up high on YouTube search results because of strong tagging and they get clicks because of the eye-grabbing visuals. The result is that the videos themselves are extremely low-quality (Gaitan’s clips can be hard to follow at times), but it doesn’t matter, because the goal is to build up ad impressions.
  • Here’s the thing … TheReplyGirl is interesting because it’s a new twist on a relatively old idea — the production of low-quality content that shows up high in search results, which has the side effect of diluting searches. Minus the human being talking, this was basically Demand Media’s business model. The question is, though, will Google step in? They took on Demand, forcing the company to change its model. Will they do the same on YouTube?
Edit: Reworded part of this for clarification.
Follow ShortFormBlog

February 22, 2012 with 2 notes
        tags: social media. nba. lebron james. basketball. dunk contest.

Kid Calls Out LeBron James on YouTube Over Dunk Contest No-Show [VIDEO]

This is the power of social media right here. I read about this kid on Mashable of all places. I’m not a sports fan really, I enjoy going to a Jays game for the atmosphere but I don’t shell out the kind of money required for the NBA, but I think this is an amazing example of the power of sports and their close connection to their fans. 

~~ A middle schooler has called out NBA superstar LeBron James for not participating in the All-Star Weekend, AGAIN, and young Sollomon has made a video calling him out, but with real finesse and charisma. I seriously want a response to this, this kid isn’t making rude YouTube videos for attention, he’s a REAL BASKETBALL FAN with a REAL LEGITIMATE concern. He admires LeBron James and wants him to do the dunk contest, for all his fans to see.

The fans want it and this kid wants it, as he says “It’s the NBA (All-Star Game) where magic happens, not where the rookies go because the All-Stars are at the hotels clubbing and drinking and stuff, come one!” 

Come on Lebron, don’t let an adorably on-point kid best you.

Kid Calls Out LeBron James on YouTube Over Dunk Contest No-Show [VIDEO]
Each day, Mashable highlights one noteworthy YouTube video. Check out all our viral video picks. LeBron James, you have officially been called out. By a kid. On YouTube. “Why won’t you play in the dunk contest this year, man?” asks young Sollomon Gessesse, who uses the Twitter handle @…

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